Arduino DC & Stepper Motor Control Workshop

Submitted by jmyer on Sat, 11/24/2012 - 8:49am

Date:

Sat, 12/08/2012 - 12:00pm to 4:00pm

This workshop will focus on controlling both DC and Stepper Motors using the Arduino Microcontroller.

When working on projects that require any kind of motion you will typically need to integrate a motor or two. Whether using a simple DC permanent magnet motor or a stepping motor, controling the direction, speed and/or position can be integral to the success your project. To follow are some common projects that require precise motor control:

Robotics Projects

Wheeled Robots such as line followers, light seekers and collision avoidance robots

Robotic Arms

CNC Controlled Devices

Laser Cutters

Milling and Engraving Machines

RepRap/3D Printing Machines

CNC controlled drawing, plotting machines

CNC etch-a-sketch

Automata and Mechanical Toys

Powered Whirly-Gigs and the like

Clockworks

Animated Holiday Decorations

Motion Conttrol of all kinds.

Utilizing the Arduino Microcontroller and a few common IC's we will explore the basics of controlling DC Permanent magnet motors and Stepper motors. The workship will utilize motors that are common to consumer electronics such as inkjet and laser printers but the concepts extend to motors of all sizes. Upon completion of the workshop attendees will be able to drive up to 2 DC motors controlling the speed and direction of each motor independently Attendees will alos learn how to precisely position both bipolar and unipolar stepper motors.

Materials Included:

Required IC's L293 & ULN2003

DC Permanent Magnet Motor

Stepper Motor

Attenedees Must bring the following:

An Arduino or Arduino Compatible Development Board. (All variants should work with material being covered)

USB Cable for programming the Arduino

Solderless Breadboard

Jumper Wires for Breadboard

Laptop computer with functional ARDUINO IDE installed (Attendees should confirm that they are able to upload a sample sketch such as the blink example to their Arduino prior to the workshop.) If you are having problems getting this to work, we will ask that you attempt to arrive an hour prior to the workshop to get assistance with getting the arduino environment working.